Boat construction



y 1968 c. E. JENNINGS 3,382,513

' I BOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed June 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wvE/vme, JE/VN/NGS May 14, 1968 c. E. JENNINGS BOAT CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 14, 1966 m/ve/vroe,

C. E JENN/NG'S' United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A compact, lightweight boat having a rounded, preferably circular hull with a peripheral rim equipped with a resilient tire, which boat is preferably so proportioned above and below the peripheral rim as to facilitate balancing on the latter so that it may be easily rolled for conveyance on land. The peripheral rim is formed as an L-shaped flange for retaining the resilient tire. The upper or deck portion and the lower or bottom portion of the boat, respectively, are of one piece molded construction and are joined together in a water-tight manner preferably by welding adjacent said peripheral rim.

The present invention relates to improvements in boat construction and, more particularly, relates to boats which are adapted to be easily handled either during conveyance on land or during their intended use onwater,

It is often desirable for a person who participates in various water activities, such as fishing, hunting, swimming, surfing, or the like, to have a small and relatively inexpensive craft that is versatile enough to use with each of these sports. There have been many attempts to provide a suitable craft along these lines including craft resembling canoes, small scale row boats, motorized surf boards, etc.; however, in each of these prior proposals, insofar as I am aware, these craft have proven to be difficult to handle on land since they mus-t either be bodily carried or must be supplied with auxiliary wheels for the purpose.

Thus, it is one object of the present invention to provide a boat construction that overcomes the foregoing disadvantages and accordingly is easily handled on land while also be particularly adapted for use in water.

With this broad object in mind, the boat contemplated by the present invention may be described in general terms as being molded with relatively thin but sturdy walls from lightweight plastic, plexiglass, fiberglass, or the like, and being shaped so as to be self reinforcing so as to require no frame. Further, the boat of the present invention is fabricated solely from two basic parts, a deck portion and a bottom portion, which are secured together at or near their periphery by weld material located on the inside of the boat and serving to form a watertight seal. Both the deck portion and the bottom portion have generally convex outer surfaces with a centrally located opening in the deck portion, which is surrounded by an enlarged, outwardly projecting hood, and with a similarly enlarged, contoured keel formed in the bottom portion in substantially opposed relationship to the hood. The enlarged hood and the keel are such as to serve to provide a substantial amount of additional room for the occupant or occupants of the boat while providing for the utmost in ease of handling both in the water and on the land.

An important feature of this invention is the manner in which the boat is adapted for easy and rapid conveyance on land, for example when being transported from the users car to the water. This is accomplished by making the boat substantially circular in configuration and providing a rim and a resilient tire mounted on said rim around the peripheral edge of the circular hull whereby the boat may be conveniently rolled on said peripheral edge. The peripheral rim is formed integrally with either one of the two hull portions described above and extends "ice radially outward from the area of the welded watertight seal so that the welded joint is isolated from the resultant flexure and distortion caused by rolling the boat on its peripheral edge. That is to say, the peripheral rim and associated tire advantageously serves to absorb any shock and flexure that might be caused during conveyance of the boat on land since the rim is carried solely by one of the halves of the hull and extends radially outwardly so as to be spaced from the area of the watertight seal. Accordingly, this means that there is substantially no stress or strain transferred to the seal area that might tend to cause failure of said seal. w

Furthermore, it can be seen that the peripheral rim also serves as a protective bumper during use of the boat on water, and, just as in the case when the boat is being rolled on land, the shock resulting from encountering an object, such as another boat or a pier, is absorbed by said peripheral rim without being transferred to the critical area of the watertight seal. Also, it is pointed out that the peripheral rim is generally L-shaped and serves the other important auxiliary functions of providing a tray around the deck portion whereby articles such as fishing lures that might be inadvertently dropped while the boat is being used can be easily recovered; and secondly, of serving to form a mounting surface for a novel bracket whereby an outboard motor can be conveniently mounted on the hull of the boat.

Accordingly, it is an additional object of the present invention to provide a boat of the type described which has a substantially circular configuration so as to be adapted to be rolled on its peripheral edge for conveyance on land.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a circular boat having a radially extending rim which serves to absorb shock caused during conveyance on land and also serves as a protective bumper during use of the boat on water.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a boat wherein said boat is proportioned to facilitate balancing on its peripheral edge so that it may be easily rolled for conveyance on land.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a construction wherein an outboard motor can be easily mounted on the circular boat of the invention with the use of a removable mounting bracket.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a circular boat having a novel tear-shaped keel to aid in stabilizing the boat during use on the water.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by' me of carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the boat of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the boat illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the boat;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the peripheral welded joint in the boat and the mounting bracket for an outboard motor;

, t 3 FIGURE 5a is atop view of the mounting bracket of FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectionalview taken along line Referring now specifically to FIGURES l, 2 and 4 of the drawings, there is illustrated a boat 10 constructed inaccordance withthe teachings of the present invention y and comprising a circular hull, generally represented by separate parts are secured together by welding around the periphery of thehull 11. to completesaid boat 10. It is pointed out that the configuration of the peripheral edges of these two basic portions 12, 13 as originally the reference numeral 11, including a deckportion 12 i and a bottom portion 13. As can be readily seen from viewing thesefigures, the hull portions 12, 13 have a generally convex outer. surface and since these portions 12, 13 are of shell-like construction in thepreferred embodiment shown the interior of the boat 10 is unobstructed :and capable of accommodating an adult-size passenger .withease; it being understoodthat larger boats constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention could be provided to accommodate several persons if desired; The hull portions12 and13 are preferablyseparately molded with relatively thin walls of lightweightplastic, plexiglass, fiberglass, or the like, to combine the advantages of lightweightness, toughness and durability that is desirable in a craft of the type described. Of course, with the use of this type of material,

theouter surface: of theboat 10 is capable of being finished to providea generally unobstructed contour to enhance the appearance thereof. it

Formed along thecentraI axis of the boat 10 in the ing 15 through which the passenger can easily gain ens 'trancecto theboat 10, and around the opening 15 there is provided an enlarged, outwardly extending hood 16 that serves to strengthen the deck portion .12 and provid additional room for the passenger seated in the boat 10. can be .seenin FIGURE 4, the hood 16 terminates in a; downwardly extending flange 17 which affords'thepassenger a surface against which to rest the trunk of his body during use of the. boat.

Similarly, the bottom portion 13 is provided with a keel 20 (note FIGURES 2-4) which serves to strengthen the boat 10 and to increase the inside volume ofthe boat10, as wellras tojperfor-m its more important function of stabilizing the craft 1 during travel through the water. This latter function is performed by making the keel 20 substantially tear-shapedin the horizontal plane, that is as viewed from the underneath side of the bottom portion 13 as in FIGURE 3. To explain, the keel 20 has a generally rounded forward face 21 and a sharp pointed face 22 extending rearwardly at the other end of said'keel ,20 (note FIGURES 2 and 3). A substantially tear-shaped heel 23 that is flat in the horizontal plane (as viewed in FIGURE 3) occupies substantially two-thirds of the keel 20, or, in other words, extends from a point approximately one-third along the length of said keel 20 to said rearwardly extending face 22. Disposedjust forward of the heel 23 is a pair of side surfaces 24, 25 which slope and curve forwardly toward the front face 21 and con verge alongythecejnter line of the keel 20 as well illust trated by considering FIGURES 2 and 3together. This configuration has been found to causethe hull 11 to exhibit .excellent stability when traveling through the water. This stability is generatedby the manner in which the sidesurfaces 24, 25 split the water flowing under the t boat 10 duringits forward motion and direct the same under substantial pressure rearwardly back along the sides of the keel 20 for convergence along the center line at the sharp pointed rearward face 22. This high pressure fluid actingagainst the opposite side faces 24, 25 and subsequently againstt the oppositeisides of the keel 20 in the region of the heel 23 thus prevents undesirable lateral movement that might otherwise occur if the bottom of a craft is perfectly rounded. j t

As mentioned briefly above, the boat 10 of the present invention is molded in two separate basic parts, the deck portion 12 and the bottom portion 13,and these two i A vertical flange 33is provided at the outer limit of said i deck portion .12 is a generally rectangular passenger openmolded is significantlydiiferent, and this can best be seen by viewing the exploded view in FIGURE 4 of the drawings. From this view, it will be realized that the bottom portion 13, exhibits a peripheraledge 27 which is adapted to. directly mate and cooperate with a horizontally extending rim, generally represented by the reference numeral 28 formed on the deck portion 12. Duning assen horizontal flange 32, which flange 33 retains a resilient tire 34 in position to form the peripheral edge of the boat 10. As' can best be seen in FIGURE 5, this is specifically accomplished by the rubber tire34 being pro- .vided with a downwardly extending flange 35 that coacts r with the vertical flange 33 of the rim 28 so that the tire is suitably locked against removal normal conditions. I

The foregoing arrangement in which the two portions 12, 13 are secured together by an inside weld area 30 with the peripheral rim 28 that extends radially outwardly from said weld area 30 to form the boat 10 is of particular significance in that the interface between said weldarea from said rirn- 28 under 30 and the two portions- 12, 13 is isolated from the peripheral edge of the boat 10 afforded by the outer perimeter of the tire 34. Thus, when the. boat is turned upon its peripheral edge for rolling during transporting of the same on land, the weld area 30 is not directly exposed to shock or flexure since the peripheral rim 28 serves as a sort of shock absorber to limit the transfer 1 of such undesirable forces described. In other words, any stress or strain that results from rolling the boat 10 on its preipheral edge, or similarly during encountering objects when the boat is used in the water, is not transferred to'the criticalwelded area 30 that secures the deck portion 12 to the bottom portion 13 and forms the watertight seal ofthe hull 11 since any shock is absorbed either in the resilient tire 34 or in the yielding flexure of the horizontal I flange 32 and the vertical flange 33.

The two portions 12, 13 are proportioned so as to I be substantially equal in weight whereby the balancing of the boat10 on its peripheral edge is facilitated. Furthermore,as mentioned above, the hood 16 and'the' tearshaped keel'20 are in substantially opposed relationship to each other so as to offset each other andmaintain the balanced configuration of the boat 10 so that it may be.

rolled on its peripheral edge with aminimum amount of effort. It will bereadily understood that this structure makes the boat 10 easy to turn and maneuver during the described transporting action, and further it will be i realized that, it is not necessary to attach'any separate wheels to the hull 11 to convert the boat into its land transportaiton'mode.

Further, it can be seen that the location of the weld material 30 inside the hull 11 provides a watertight seal a that is isolated from outside forces in additionto the ment for mechanical fasteners of any type when the hull flexure mentioned above and thus is less susceptible to all types of failure due to outside forces during the life of the boat; Inaddition, there is, of course, no require- ]1 is fabricated as described, which means lower initial cost and less weight in addition to the more reliable joint that is obtained.

Another important function of the horizontal flange 32 illustrated in FIGURE 5 concerns the mounting of a bracket 45 to receive a conventional outboard motor for powering the boat of the present invention. As well illustrated in this figure and in FIGURE 5a, the bracket 45 includes a vertically extendingplate 46 having a lower portion that is curved as at 47 so as to be capable of resting on said peripheral horizontal flange 32 in attaching engagement therewith. The upper portion 47a of the plate 46 is substantially flat and extends perpendicular to the center line of the boat so as to be capable of receiving the conventional clamping mechanism of an outboard motor (not shown in any of the drawings).

The bracket 45 further includes a horizontal plate 48 that extends inwardly to a downwardly extending lug 49 which is adapted to be snugly received in a substantially cylindrical socket 50 formed in the upper surface of the deck portion 12 (note FIGURES 1, 5 and 6); it being understood that the weight of the motor inherently serves to hold said bracket 45 securely in place. This arrangement of the bracket and its removable attachment to the boat 10 in the manner just described has been found to give very acceptable results in the sense that the 'motor is held in a stable position for driving the boat 10 with a minimum amount of extra hardware.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 6, the rim 28 and tire 34 arrangement of the present invention provides an additional advantage to the boat 10 in that it serves as a peripheral tray around the deck portion 11 so that a fishing lure 55 or the like can be easily recovered if inadvertently dropped by a person using the boat.

It should now be apparent that a versatile boat 10 that can be used for a number of various activities has been provided by the present invention, which boat 10 is easy to handle not only in the water but also on land. In short, in accordance with the invention, the hull 11 of said boat 10 is circular, which means that said boat 10 can be easily rolled on its peripheral edge on land. This circular construction is characterized by the novel manner in which the circular hull 11 carries the peripheral tire 34 on a horizontal flange 32 so as to be capable of long life without failure of the critical seal area between the two portions 12, 13 of the hull 11. Further, it can be seen that the boat is constructed for low cost manufacture and yet is such as to give long trouble-free life.

In this disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, but as aforementioned, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed by the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A boat having a circular hull including a deck portion and a bottom portion, means for securing said deck portion and said bottom portion together to form a Watertight seal, a peripheral rim extending radially outwardly from a point lying peripherally beyond the watertight seal, said rim including a substantially hroizontal flange integral with one of said hull portions and a resilient tire mounted around the outer limit of said horizontal flange so as to form the peripheral edge of said hull whereby the boat is capable of being rolled on said peripheral edge for conveyance on land.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said peripheral rim is generally L-shaped and further includes a vertically extending flange at said outer limit of said horizontal flange for retaining said tire on said rim.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein is further provided a central passenger opening formed in the deck portion, an enlarged hood positioned around said opening and an enlarged keel formed in said bottom portion subst-autially in opposed relationship to said hood whereby said boat is proportioned to facilitate balancing on said peripheral edge.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein is further provided a socket formed into said deck portion adjacent said peripheral rim, an outboard motor mounting bracket including a vertically extending plate, said plate having a lower portion curved so as to be capable of resting on said horizontal flange and having a flat upper portion to receive the mounting bracket of the motor and a lug extending substantially parallel to said plate to secure said bracket to the socket in said deck portion.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said keel is substantially tear-shaped along the horizontal plane of said boat, said keel presenting a rounded face extending forwardly and a sharp pointed face extending rearwardly, said keel having a generally flat tear-shaped heel extending from a point substantially one-third along the length of said keel to said rear face and a pair of side surfaces sloping and curving forwardly and upwardly from said heel to said front face.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,514,961 11/1924 Goldman 91 2,826,163 3/1958 King.

3,032,785 5/1962 Ward et al 9--6 3,045,264 7/1962 Smith 93 10 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

R. A. DORNON, Assistant Examiner. 

